Coincidentally, my Japanese teacher taught us just last week that there is no distinction in Japanese between rat and mouse, nor between alligator and crocodile or clock and watch. It seems she’s faced some disbelief /negative reaction about this from past students!
One thing I find very interesting about languages is the things that are distinguished in one but not another. It’s these cultural insights that intrigue me about languages.
Sorry that I can’t keep up with this thread daily!